Fence bracket



Aug. 18, 1936. L. LEFFQORGE 2,051,302

FENCE BRACKET Filed Aug. 29, 1935 gig/3 F- 1 E 5 [flue/7604 [aw/600s Aefforge.

Attorneys.

Patented Aug. 1, 1936 UNITED 2+;

FATE

2,051,302 7 FENCE BRACKET Lawrence Lefforge, Wabash, Ind.; Kenneth N.

Lefiorge administrator of said Lawrence Lefforge, deceased Application August 29, 1935, Serial No. 38,433

6 Claims. (Cl. 256-11) This invention relates to brackets suitable for use in supporting barbed wires laterally from fence posts in such a manner as to protect the fence proper from damage by animals attemptposts without necessity of employing fastening devices. It is a further primary object of my invention to provide a bracket of the nature indicated that may be produced at an extremely low cost and to this end may be made in identically formed parts operated merely by dropping them on a post and spreading them apart.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent to those versed in the art in the following description of one particular form of my invention as illustrated by the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a fence installation embodying my invention;

Fig. 2, a top plan view of an element of the bracket;

Fig. 3, a side elevation;

Fig. 4, a rear elevation, and

Fig. 5, a front elevation,

Like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several views in the drawing.

The bracket comprises two identically formed members, each formed preferably from a metallic bar or rod. The elements are herein designated by the numerals I and I I. The element I0 will be described in detail, it being understood that the element I I is an identical counterpart thereof.

In forming the element I0, in'the particular form of the invention herein shown, I take a length of iron or steel rod and form on one end thereof an eye I2 practically circular in shape and preferably, although not necessarily so, left open on one side for a reason hereinafter to be explained. The body of the rod is turned upwardly from this eye I2, thence around into approximately a diametrical line therefrom. The

other end of the rod is given a compound bend v to approximate, although not exactly form, a corkscrew end. The essential feature of this bend is to form a downwardly extending loop I3 carried laterally of the axis of the body of the element slightly and thence back to the other side of the axis and upwardly to center again approximately on the axis of the body and thence turned downwardly by the end to leave a seat thereunder designated by the numeral I4.

The eye I2 in the form herein shown, is particularly adapted to fit around a metal post I-5. Where there is sufficient room above the usual woven wire fence I6, the element H has its eye I2 dropped down over the top of the post as indicated in Fig. 1, following which the element It! 5 is placed in position by turning it up-side-down in reference to the element I I to have its eye I2 extending downwardly from the body of the element rather than above.

The outer ends of the elements It! and I I are interengaged by the loop is of the element Ill being under the corresponding loop of the element It and the barbed wire I? is carried between the seats I l of the respective elements l0 and II, the wire being readily inserted therebetween since when the elements III and II are in parallel relation one with the other, their outer ends are spaced apart vertically to permit the wire I? to be carried therebetween.

Now all that remains to be done is to spread 26 apart the eyes I2 of the two elements, either raising the one eye or lowering the other or both so as to cause the outer ends of the elements to fulcrum one over the other between the bends I3 in order to have the barbed wire I1 gripped and enclosed between the seats I 4, much as in the manner of a pair of tongs. The eyes I2 will remain in their spread apart relation particularly by reason of their abutting the projections I 8 found on the ordinary metal posts. However 30 where the post is wood, and no such projections exist, frictional contact between the metal and wood post would be sufilcient to maintain the spaced apart relation. The spiral and the eye ends of the two bars of a pair must be so shaped with reference to each other that when the bars are spread apart on the post they will clamp uniformly on the wire and on the post. This results from making the bends I 3, I4, in a plane at an angle (usually at about right angles) to the plane 40 of the eye I 2. This is because the wire I I is horizontal and the post is vertical and the bracket could not be applied if the bends and ring were all in the same plane. By placing them in planes at right angles to each other the ring is tilted by the spreading apart of the two elements giving the ring a clamping grip on the post. 7

Where it is necessary to drop the wire I! I6wer in relation to the fence I6, the eye I2 of the element II may still be engaged around the post'I5 by reason of the fact that the eye I2 is open on the one side to permit the eye to be slipped therearound, there being sufficient curvature in the eye to prevent its sliding off of the post when the elements are spread apart. In such a case, the upper element It) is lifted to effect the closing action between the seats l4.

While I have herein shown and described my invention in the best form as now known to me, it is obvious that structural variations may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention' and I, therefore, do not desire to be limited to that precise form beyond the limitations as may be imposed by the following claims.

I claim; j 1; For, supporting a' fence wire from a post,

a bracket comprising a pair of members each having post engaging means on one end, a wire seat on the other end, and a portionnear the seat of each memberserving as a fulcrum for the other member, said wire being gripped between said members across said seats by spreading apart the ends carrying said means.

Y 2. For supporting a fence'wire from a post, a

pair of members each having respective ends oif set' to form a fulcrum one with the other, a wire seat near said ends in each member, said ends being normally spaced apart to receive a wire therebetween across said seats when the members approach parallelism and said ends closing one toward the other torretain said wire upon rocking the memberson said fulcrum to spread apart their opposite ends, and means on said opposite serving as aful'cru'm for the other member, said wire being gripped between said members across said seats by spreading apart the ends" carrying said means, said means comprising an eye'formed to slidably fit around the post; V

4 ,,A fence wire bracket comprising a pair of identical members each having post engaging means on one end and a pair of adjacent bends on the other end, the outer bendforming a wire a seat and the inner bend a fulcrum for ,the other 10 member, one of said members being inverted in. reference to the other to bring said inner'bends into overlapping relation to effect said fulcrum.

5. A fence wire bracket comprising a pair of identical members each having post engaging 15 -means on one end and a pair of'adjacent bends 'on the other end, the outer bend forming a wire seat and the inner bend a fulcrumfor the other member, one of said members being inverted in reference to the other to bring said inner bends 0 into overlapping relation to effect said fulcrum, said inner bends being offset somewhat laterally of the axis of the members; i a

6. A'fence wire bracket comprising a of identical members each having post engaging 2 means on one end and a pair of adjacentbends on the other end, the outer bend forming a wire seat and the inner bend'a fulcrum for the other member, one of said members being inverted in reference to the other to bring said inner bends 30 into overlapping relation to effect said fulcrum, said engaging means comprising an eyeformed to V slide over the post. 7 I i p LAWRENCE LEFFORGE. 

